Justice Department to sue polygamous towns

SALT LAKE CITY -- The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday sued two polygamous towns along the Utah-Arizona line, claiming religious discrimination against non-sect members.

The federal civil-rights lawsuit was filed against Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., where most residents are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, run by the group's imprisoned leader, Warren Jeffs.

Jeffs is serving a life sentence in Texas after convictions on child-sex and bigamy charges, but he is said to still maintain control of the communities.

The lawsuit claims the two towns, the Colorado City/Hildale Marshal's Office and utility entities have and continue to violate the federal Fair Housing Act, depriving non-sect members of their constitutional rights.

The civil action, filed in the U.S. District Court for Arizona, asks that the towns be enjoined from religious discrimination in housing, policing and public services, as well as a preventive order to stop faith-based coercion and intimidation.

In addition, the Justice Department seeks compensation for victims of discrimination and civil penalties against the towns.

Paul Charlton, a former U.S. attorney for Arizona, said town officials could face incarceration if the injunction succeeds and they subsequently fail to abide by court orders.

"They're (federal officials are) asking for what's appropriate, and that is to stop the unconstitutional behavior," Charlton said.

The suit was brought on behalf of residents who were never FLDS members, those who have been excommunicated from the sect and those who left on their own.

It claims the towns have illegally functioned as an arm of the FLDS for at least two decades, working in concert with church leaders "to deny non-FLDS individuals housing, police protection and access to public space and services."

"The Marshal's Office has inappropriately used its state-granted law-enforcement authority to enforce the edicts of the FLDS, to the detriment of non-FLDS members," the suit says.

Several examples are described, including door-to-door enforcement by marshals of a 2001 edict by Jeffs banning the ownership of dogs.

Town officials could not be reached for comment late Thursday, but a lawyer for the communities denounced the legal action.

"There's nothing to support the allegation that non-FLDS members are treated differently," attorney Blake Hamilton told the Associated Press on Thursday.

Hamilton said Justice Department lawyers threatened a lawsuit in December when they met with him and another attorney representing Colorado City.

"DOJ asked us to dismantle a community," Hamilton said.

Bruce Wisan, who was appointed by Utah courts to oversee an FLDS trust that controls much of the property in Colorado City and Hildale, said he has personally been a victim of discrimination and selective enforcement and has witnessed abuse of former church members by town officials.

"I'm just thrilled that DOJ has stepped up to the plate," added Wisan, who said he provided testimony and documents for the investigation. "I think we'll see some changes in the community."

If the federal suit is successful, Wisan said, he believes it could force the towns into an independent receivership similar to one imposed on the community's public schools several years ago by the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

The Justice Department lawsuit comes after legislatures in Utah and Arizona failed this year to pass bills aimed at abolishing the Marshal's Office, which monitors both communities.

The Arizona bill was being pushed by state Attorney General Tom Horne, who said Colorado City officers who are FLDS members flout the law and instead pay allegiance first to Jeffs.

At least a half-dozen of those officers have been stripped of their law-enforcement status in recent years by Arizona and Utah regulatory agencies.

In a news release Thursday, Horne said he is "very pleased" that the Justice Department has "taken legal action to join us in this fight" and offered his support for the litigation.

The FLDS practices polygamy, a legacy of early Mormon Church teachings that held plural marriage brought exaltation in heaven.

However, the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned the practice in 1890 as a condition of Utah's statehood and excommunicates members who engage in the practice.

Hildale, Utah sits at the base of red rock cliff mountains with its sister city, Colorado City, Ariz. in the foreground in this Thursday, April 20, 2006 file photo. An attorney for local law enforcement in the two polygamous towns, where most residents are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints run by the groups jailed leader Warren Jeffs, says the U.S. Justice Department plans to sue both communities, claiming religious discrimination.